
ROCK INSCRIPTIONS IN BRAZIL. 



BY JOHN C. BRANNER, B.S., 

Honorary Member of the Instituto Archeologico e Geographico Alagoano 



Reprinted from the American Naturalist, Dec. 1884. 



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THE 

AMERICAN NATURALIST. 

Vol. xviil— DECEMBER, 1884.— No. 12. 



ROCK INSCRIPTIONS IN BRAZIL. 1 

BY JOHN C. BRANNER. 

JN 1876 I visited Aguas Bellas, a small town in the interior of 
the province of Pernambuco, and about a hundred miles from 
the coast, for the purpose of examining localities said to contain 
the remains of extinct mammals. 

The fossils were found at and in .the vicinity of a cattle ranch 
known as Lagoa da Lagea, eight-*leagues east of Aguas Bellas. 
During the time spent at t]ais«p.te.ee*rMe^irned of several rocks in 
the vicinity bearing inscription^wfiicn; it was said, no man could 
read. I took time to visit the most convenient of these localities 
and to make careful drawings of the markings, the characteristic 
ones of which are here represented (Plates xxxiv-vi). 

The first place visited for this purpose was a small farm about a 
league from Lagoa da Lagea, known as Cacimba Circada. The rock 
found at this place, together with its inscription, is shown at k (Plate 
xxxiv). This rock is a gneiss boulder of decomposition, about 
io r X 6' X 6 r , lying upon the bed rock near the Rio Garanhun- 
zinho. On the right, as one faces the inscription, is an asterisk a 
foot in diameter, made by four lines crossing each other at equal 
angles, while the remainder of the inscription on the left consists of 
three rows of marks or indentations that run down from near the top 

1 The present contribution is intended to supplement the work begun by my friend 
and teacher, the lamented Professor Ch. Fred. Hartt, who was deeply interested in 
the archaeological and ethnological work yet to be done in Brazil. It was while 
working upon the Imperial Geological Commission of Brazil, and under his direc- 
tions, that these observations were made. 

The Naturalist for May, 1871, contains an article by Professor Hartt upon Bra- 
zilian rock inscriptions. 

VOL. xvm. — NO. xii. 75 



1 1 88 Rock Inscriptions in Brazil. [December, 

of the rock about two and one-half feet to where a portion of the 
block has split off from the lower left corner, probably carry- 
ing away part of the inscription. It is impossible to determine 
the exact number of these points, for some of them, especially 
those next the top, have become very indistinct through the 
weathering of the face of the rock. The inscriptions appear to 
have been made by pecking with stone implements, and in the 
case of the asterisk the stone was rubbed up and down the line 
until the furrows were well polished. After being ground out 
these points and lines were painted, the color now having a dull 
red or brown appearance. 

The next place visited was Pedra Pintada (painted stone) which 
is located upon a stream '(during the rainy season) taking its 
name from the marked stones — -Rio da Pedra Pintada. 1 It is said 
to be ten leagues from Aguas Bellas, twelve from Garanhuns and 
nine from Papacaca. There are here about forty designs engraved, 
and part of them both engraved and painted upon the large 
blocks of gneiss on the banks, and upon the flat smooth rock in 
the dry bed of the stream. There is a cascade about twenty-five 
feet high just here, and at the foot of it a pot-hole, now filled up, 
which is about fifteen feet wide by as many deep, and to the pres- 
ence of which these inscriptions are possibly due, as I shall show. 
The forms of the inscriptions are shown in the figures, which are 
drawn to scale, and I need not describe them in detail. Figs, a, 
b, c y d, e,f,r and s are engraved on the bed rock of the stream 
above the cascade. These are not painted, and if they ever were, 
the paint has been washed off by the stream charged with sand 
and gravel. Many of these are becoming indistinct, some of 
them have almost entirely disappeared, while others have doubt- 
less disappeared altogether. The concentric chipping of the 
rock, so common in the tropics, has also removed some of the in- 
scriptions both in the bed of the stream and upon the banks. 

The engraving appears to have been done like that at Cacimba 
Circada, by pecking and grinding with stones having thin rounded 
edges. After being thus polished these marks were painted, the 
color now showing as a dull red or brown. In some cases the 
points and lines are combined as is shown in e and/. The ar- 

1 Lower down this stream is called Riacho dos dois Riachos, and flows into the 
Ipanema at Sant' Anna, which enters the Sao Francisco about midway between 
Traipii and Pao d'Assucar. 



1 8 84. J Rock Inscriptions in Brazil. 11 89 

rangement of points in parallel vertical lines is rather frequent, 
occurring several times here (Fig. v), as well as at Cacimba Cir- 
cada (Fig. k), and at Sant' Anna (Fig. x). There are several 
such rings as that shown at e, one ot them having thirty-four 
points instead of thirty-six, while others are broken, or the points 
are too indistinct to be determined. There are two asterisks of 
eight rays, one associated with other markings (Fig. v) and an- 
other one independent, while still another asterisk has twenty 
rays (Fig./). The only figure that seems to be intended to rep- 
resent anything is Fig. r f which appears to be a rude representa- 
tion of a spear-head. Part of Fig. might be supposed to repre- 
sent a fish, but I fancy that whatever resemblance there may be 
is accidental. The resemblance between some of these designs 
and some given by Professor Hartt 1 from the Amazon region is 
noteworthy, especially that of the spiral shown in h and that of 
the circle with the point at the center, such as are shown at/. 

Returning from Aguas Bellas to the Rio Sao Francisco by way 
of the village of Sant' Anna, in the province of Alagoas, at half 
a league from this latter place I found the figures shown at x in- 
scribed upon the side of a large gneiss boulder of decomposition. 
These figures are both cut and painted, and have the same dull 
red color as those at Pedra Pintada. There are other marks upon 
the vertical faces of this and of the other boulders of the group, 
evidently made by the same hands. These are simply polished 
spots varying in size from one to two feet in diameter. They are, 
for the most part, nearly round, but some of them are oblong, 
and none of them are more than about a quarter of an inch in 
depth — most of them not so deep, and are all painted. The 
stones upon which these inscriptions are made, as has already 
been stated, are gneiss boulders of decomposition, about a dozen 
in number, from six to twelve feet in height, and are grouped 
together upon the summit of a little hill of solid gneiss, as shown 
in the accompanying sketch. 




The boulders near Sant' Anna, Province of Alagoas. 



1 American Naturalist, May, 1871. 



1 190 



Rock Inscriptions in Brazil. 



[December, 




^ 



The inscription x is upon the largest and most prominent of 

these boulders, while many, though not 
all the others, have polished places upon 
their sides such as I have described. 
During dry weather there is no water in 
the immediate vicinity, though the Ipan- 
ema 1 is only about a mile distant. 

It should be noted that these inscrip- 
tions, as well as many others which I 
heard of through this part of the country, 
are all upon these large stones, and gen- 
erally in some such prominent place. 2 
One inscription in particular was men- 
tioned to me by several persons, all of 
whom gave substantially the same account 
of it. This inscribed rock is near Agua 
Branca, twelve leagues above Piranhas 
and ten leagues from the falls of Paulo 
Affonso, on the Fazenda da Caisara, and is 
known as the pedra navio, or ship stone. 
It is said to be a large and nearly round 
boulder, standing upon a very narrow 
base upon the solid rock, and to have all 
its sides covered with Indian inscriptions. 3 
Through this part of the country, where the archaean rocks 
form a wide belt between the plateaus of the interior and the 
Cretaceous and Tertiary beds near the coast, these boulders of de- 
composition are not uncommon, and almost every one that I have 
seen has had some sort of artificial marks upon it, generally too 
badly eroded to be defined, but sufficiently distinct to leave no 
doubt concerning their origin. 

Of the figures themselves I am unable to suggest any definite 
explanation. The explanations given by the people in the vicin- 

1 Not " Panema " as the geographies give it. 

2 The inscribed rocks at Erere described by Professor Hartt are also prominent 
ones. 

3 1 was told that there are extensive rock inscriptions further up the Rio Sao Fran- 
cisco at Salgueiro on the Rio Quixaba and at Ouricury, both in the western part of 
the province of Pernambuco. On the road between Diamantina and Bei ibery, in the 
province of Minas Geraes, are some rude Indian paintings of animals upon a ledge 
of rock. These latter I have seen, but had no opportunity of sketching them. 



Sant' Anna inscriptions. 



PLATE XXXIV. 




Brazilian Rock Inscriptions. 



PLATE XXXV. 




(Pf.S 






Brazilian Rock Inscriptions. 



PLATE XXXVI. 




Brazilian Rock Inscriptions. 



1884.] Rock Inscriptions in Brazil. 1 1 9 1 

ity throw no light upon the subject. Some think they were made 
by the Dutch when they held the country about Pernambuco in 
the early part of the seventeenth century, but the general impres- 
sion is that they refer to some treasure hidden in the neighbor- 
hood. This idea led a former proprietor of the country about 
Pedra Pintada to make diligent search for this supposed treasure, 
and he even cleaned out the great pot-hole at the foot of the 
cascade, but without finding anything. 

It is to be noted, however, as far as I have observed, that these 
inscriptions are always near the water, or near a place where 
water is likely to be found late in, if not quite through the dry 
season. 1 At Pedra Pintada the pot-hole below the fall has water 
in it long after the stream proper has dried up, the Ipanema has 
never been known to dry up entirely at Sant' Anna, while Ca- 
cimba Circada (fenced spring) takes its name from a spring at that 
place. This occurrence of the inscriptions in the neighborhood 
of water might admit of more than one explanation. If they 
have no other relation to the water itself, they happen to be in 
these localities because these are the places where the original 
inhabitants of the country would naturally live during the dry 
season, which is here nearly half the year, and indeed a part of 
these inscriptions at least — those in the bed of the stream — must 
have been made during the dry season. I am, however, inclined 
to the opinion that a part if not all these markings refer, in some 
way to the water supply which is so uncertain in this region of 
great drouths. Exactly in what way, whether as records of sea- 
sons, or as petitions or offerings to the powers supposed to bring 
rain, it is idle now to speculate. To one visiting this section during 
the dry season, which lasts from August till January, there is no 
more natural explanation. The whole country is parched except 
the cacti and a very narrow strip bordering the now dry beds of 
the streams. Beyond these threads of gradually disappearing 
green one may travel for leagues and leagues without seeing a 
sign of water, and when, as not infrequently happens, the dry 
season is prolonged, the suffering of man and beast is extreme. 
The cattle subsist upon the pulp of the cacti that grow here 

1 There can be no confusing these markings with the holes made in large stones 
by Indians grinding their corn, and which also occur near the water. Many excel- 
lent examples of these mortar holes were found by me at the foot of the Pao d'As- 
sucar, on the Rio Sao Francisco. They are made in the upper surface of large frag- 
ments of rock near the river. 



1 192 Rock Inscriptions in Brazil. [December, 

abundantly, while the herdsmen obtain water for them by digging 
holes in the sand of the river beds wherever water may be found 
in this manner. If the drouth still continues beyond this stage, 
the cattle are driven toward the coast to where water may be had, 
or they are left to perish of thirst. 1 

Without experience of such circumstances it is, perhaps, not 
easy to realize the force of the argument, but after riding for 
days through this region with a tropical sun blazing overhead, 
the atmosphere so dry that it seems to parch one's very vitals, 
and the heat from the glaring white sand quivering upwards to a 
cloudless sky, the thin catinga forest shriveled and still, with not 
a sign of animal life save the metallic stridulation of an occa- 
sional grasshopper, and after passing now and then a whole day 
without water, one realizes the importance which savage races, 
dwelling in such a country, would attach to a stream or pool 
where water could be had during the dry season. 

1 The circumstances under which I found the remains of extinct mammals in this 
region lead me to believe that their extermination was caused by long drouths over 
great areas. 



Rock Inscriptions in Brazil. 1 192^ 

Postscript. 

It is greatly to be desired that the Indian rock inscriptions 
and paintings throughout Brazil be carefully drawn or photo- 
graphed at as early a date as possible, for exposed as they are to 
the elements, and objects of no one's care, each passing year ren- 
ders them less distinct, and unless they are preserved in this or 
some other way, with them must soon disappear our last hope of 
any insight into the lives of the prehistoric inhabitants of Brazil. 
That no interpretation of these rude glyphs has yet suggested 
itself should rather act as an incentive to their compilation and 
study. And neither should the occasional presence of figures 
among them, which have evidently been made since the appear- 
ance of the Jesuit missionaries in South America, be regarded as 
conclusive evidence that they are all of comparatively recent date. 
Indeed we may yet have to seek their interpretation by means of 
this link which connects the civilization of to-day with the ages 
now enshrouded in darkness. 

It should be remarked in this connection, however, that the 
figure of a cross does not necessarily and always imply that its 
presence among these inscriptions is due to the influence of 
Christianity, for upon the Marajo pottery, which is undoubtedly 
prehistoric, are to be found figures of crosses even of an elabo- 
rate type, evolved among the ancient inhabitants of the. Amazonas 
by a natural process of evolution in ornamentation. I am aware 
that His Imperial Majesty, Dom Pedro II, formerly believed these 
inscriptions to be the work of quilombeiros , or runaway (African) 
slaves, but I have no doubt he has long abandoned this theory of 
their origin. 

In any case I would urge upon the Instituto Historico of Rio 
de Janeiro, and upon the Instituto Archeologico e Geographico 
Alagoano to make especial efforts to obtain and preserve accurate 
records of all rock inscriptions and paintings to be found in the 
empire, and perhaps we can reasonably hope that their interpreta- 
tion may yet, in the language of Burton, " light up a dark place 
in the prehistoric age of Brazil." To this end I give herewith, in 
addition to those already mentioned, a list of places in Brazil 
where such inscriptions have been noted. 

They are especially abundant along the Lower Rio de Sao 
Francisco, and Burton mentions 1 having heard of them at the 

1 Highlands of Brazil, Vol. 11, pp. 423-431. 



1 1 92 b Rock Inscriptions in Brazil. 

following localities : Ico da Ypoeira, Sitio da Itacoatiara, Pe da 
Serra, Salgado, two leagues from Curral dos Bois, Fazenda do 
Brejo, seven leagues from the Porto das Piranhas, Olho d'Agua 
do Casado, near Piranhas and one league from the river, and 
again on the Ipanema, about two leagues from where it enters the 
Rio de Sao Francisco. 

Koster 1 heard of a number of inscriptions in the province of 
Parahyba, and Castelnau found some on the Rio Araguaya. On 
the Upper Paraguay the Serra do Letreiro, above the junction of 
the Rio de Sao Lourenco, takes its name from some inscriptions 
on rocks near its base. This inscription is known as the Letreiro 
da Gahyba? The glyphs, or part of them at least, are figured by 
Dr. Severiano da Fonseca. 3 This writer refers also to similar in- 
scriptions at Curumata, in the province of Piauhy, and to others 
at the Morro de Cantagallo, on the Upper T/6pajos. 

In the region of the Amazonas, rock inscriptions are reported 
from Alcobaca and Jequerapua on the Lower Tocantins, on the 
western end of the Serra do Erere near Monte Alegre, at the 
Serra da Escama near Obidos, 4 on the Rio Uauapes, 5 and from 
the Cachoeira do Ribeirao, on the Rio Madeira. 6 

In connection with these should also be mentioned the inscrip- 
tions of the Rio Oyapok and of Guiana, and those of the Orinoco 
spoken of by Humboldt. 7 

Scranton, Pa., Nov., i< 



1 Travels in Brazil, second ed., Vol. II, p. 97. 

2 V. also Bulletin de la Societe de Geographie, 4 m e Serie, T. I, No. 4. 

• Viagem ao redor do Brazil, Vol. I, p. 327. It is to be regretted that the draw- 
ing of the inscription, like nearly all the illustrations in this otherwise interesting 
work, has been rendered almost worthless by bad engraving. 

♦Professor Ch. Fred. Hartt in Am. Naturalist, May, 1871. 

5 The Amazon and Rio Negro, by Alfred R. Wallace. 

6 The Amazon and Madeira rivers, by Franz Keller- Leuzinger. 

7 Voyage aux Regions Equinoxiales du Nouveau Continent. 



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